Kicking Off a New Series: Bass Players You Need To Know

Over the past year, I’ve dug deep into the nether-regions of my brain, week after week, to figure out all of those things I wish I knew. Lucky for me, the crazy turmoil that is life as a professional musician has been inspiration enough. My goal in writing this series was to highlight those things I’ve learned the hard way… the crazy situations that happen to arise on a gig, the necessity of knowing your gear and keeping it in working order, and the ways to constantly improve as a musician. I have tried to justify my love affair with Mr. Metronome, the fact the my practice session isn’t always based on learning something new, and the fact that I’m obsessive compulsive when it comes to setting up and taking down my gear.

One thing I always try to be aware of is you, the reader, and how to relate these concepts to players of all levels. Perhaps you have a family and a full time job, leaving only an hour a week to pick up your instrument. Or perhaps you get to play bass every day, whether it’s in your practice room or on a bandstand. This finally got me thinking… what are some truly universal concepts for all bass players, those of us who are just starting out, or who have put a few years in and have a lifetime ahead of us, or who happen to be musical veterans? What is the one thing that ties us all together, that inspired us at the start and never ceases to get old? What, if anything, is the thing that we all need to know?

So I began going over different concepts in an effort to distill music, bass playing, and education… desperately searching for this universal.

At first I wondered if it was the notes on our instrument… strike one. I probably spent the first two years playing bass and not knowing many notes above the 7th fret. Could this “universal” be theory? Do we all need to know what a Dm7 chord is? Strike two… plenty of us play music without that.

What about technique? That’s the third strike. While many of us work very hard at technique, few of us pick up the bass for the first time and say “hm, I really need to figure out where to anchor my thumb.” Most likely, we just try to make a decent sound.

Each of these concepts, I realized, are far too formal. They’re too by-the-book, too particular, too… educated. I needed to take a more organic approach and decided that a change of location would be beneficial for my creative juices. So of course, I went to my favorite coffee spot, got an iced Americano, and sat down to think. Everything was going well, my beverage was perfect, I had a table to myself, and I didn’t see any familiar faces to distract me with conversation. And then, sabotage. My ears perked up to a funky groove playing overhead, the strut that is Cissy, the bass player that is George Porter, Jr. There was absolutely no way I could focus with Zigaboo laying down a beat and the rest of the Meters begging me to sing “Hey Pocky A-Way.”

My head began a-bopping and as I sung quietly to myself, I realized that I had to leave if I were to get any work done. I was so distracted by the bass line that I had the urge to pack up my computer, grab a to-go cup, and return home to my instrument.

Boom! That’s it! That’s my inspiration. A bass line; and more importantly, a bass player. That, my friends, just may be the universal. It is the music we listen to, the songs we love, and the bass players that we try to emulate.

As a novice, all we try to do is play something — a riff we hear in our head or a song we heard on the radio. We work and work until we can finally get the notes under our fingers to match the ones come from our headphones.

As an intermediate player, we have greater knowledge of our instrument and search for more music to challenge our abilities. We play with greater proficiency, learn with greater ease, and begin to establish a voice that is the sum of our influences.

And as a veteran, we may find ourselves head to head with other amazing players, where we discover that perhaps they can do something that we can’t, and we sit and listen in amazement. It is the person standing on the stage or sitting in the studio and the fact that they make music to inspire us to make music.

A No Treble meeting and brain storming session got the ball rolling on this concept and after a bit of discussion, we realized that there are some bass players that we just need to know. After all, how many times do you listen to a record and wonder, “hey, who played that?!”

So here it is… the beginning of a new series that focuses on the bass players that, we suggest, are some pretty cool cats to listen to. Hopefully you see a few familiar faces, a few that you wish you knew more about, and others that you’ve never heard before. You can expect a little bit of a bio, a few examples of their masterful playing, and hopefully, a good reason to check them out or revisit their catalogue.

While we begin to compile a list of some of our favorite bassists, we could certainly use your help!

Please let us know who some of your need-to-know players are, whether they are the guys who “wrote the book” or who happen to be new to the scene, and leave the research up to us. Share your favorite(s) in the comments.

Ryan Madora is a professional bass player and educator living in Nashville, TN. In addition to touring and playing sessions, she fronts an original music project, The Interludes and teaches private lessons. Visit her website to learn more about her music or to inquire about lessons.

Well, too many to mention, so I’ll start with one that first popped up in my mind. It was the late 80s – early 90s, when guitar shredding was at its peak. I got my copy of Eric Johnson’s Ah Via Musicom & immediately got hooked by this punchy, funky bass sound sitting just right in the mix; anchoring Eric’s fleet runs while creating musical statements of its own. That performance drove me to strive for that particular bass sound, a quest that continues up to now. That bass player was Kyle Brock, I believe.

Hey!
I love your latest article on No Treble﻿. I’m just very grateful you’ve started this feature. After this years Gerald Veasley’s Bass BootCamp﻿ I realized that my knowledge and ear for bass lines is in desperate need of education. As much as I listen to music, it’s only since camp have I turned my ear to now only bopping to the bass line but actually hearing it as a musician. I’ve kind of been embarrassed to ask other bassists “who should I listen to” ? I’m hoping you’ll include not only who to listen to, but which song and what to listen for. (also posted on FaceBook)

I find I have to drag myself kicking and screaming to give new guys a chance… with that spirit, I really like what Evan Marien is doing with the bass – his chops are sort of Jaco inspired, but really very original. Also dude from Snarky Puppy is interesting.

Although I eventually got around to Stanley Clarke and Jaco, I must admit that I wouldn’t have started on the bottom end had it not been for that bass drum rumble at parades and the God of Thunder, Gene the Consummate Performer Simmons!!!

It stumps me that all you American bass players fail to recognize the two greats that have played on thousands of songs….Joe Osborn and Carol Kaye….I am still figuring out ‘for all we know’ and ‘Ventura highway’….they are still around and I don’t see them in the cover of any bass or musician magazine…

The famous and fortunate always get press. The world is full of weekend warrior types who can play their azzez off. They should get some coverage. And that IMO would be some real valuable research and a very worthy project.

Recently I was watching Blur Live At Glastonbury and I’ve got to put it out there – Alex James is definitely one of the most underrated bass players especially of our time. He’s playing so melodically and with such passion but no one ever seems to give him enough if any credit at all!
Another bass player would have to be Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots – if anyone has heard the isolated track to “Interstate Love Song” they would understand why.
The problem is, most of these bass lines are extremely overlooked and I think it would be a great breath of fresh air if these bassists were given their due of credit in this series.

Berry Oakley, bass player for the Allman Brothers Band. A fertile melodic imagination, an ear for a sweet groove and an ability to react to whatever happened around him made for a sweet bassist. Just check out “Melissa”, “Ramblin’ Man”, or “Mountain Jam”.

Glad to see some lesser known and unknown bassplayers in the list: way too many of the ones we already know and can find loads of info about…
A shame to see nobody’s mentioned RUTGER GUNNARSON (ABBA). You may not like ABBA, but listen to the basslines and you’ll probably be amazed.

Back in 1979, I heard this song on the radio. It was the first time I`d heard bass played like that and I immediately wanted to do what he was doing. The bassist..Norman Watt Roy, the band, Ian Dury and The Blockheads. The song..Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick. I`ve now been playing for over 30 years and Norman is still one of my biggest influences. I`ve met him countless times, booked him (with Wilko Johnson), opened gigs for him and shared equipment. He is an absolute gent of a bloke and is currently at the top of the UK charts with the Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey project. Which is where he should be! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WGVgfjnLqc#aid=P8aEyN6Zzpw

Glad someone acknowledged dUg Pinnick from KING’S X. He’s not flash, he’s all groove and tone, and voice, too, with loads of cool. Look up the song “Pray” (the intro of that is 12-string bass and vocal).

Y’know, there was another one of these postings elsewhere, and someone was listing their top 10, and what occurred to me was I have favorites that I don’t know their names, but I know the bands they played in…what about the guys from these bands:

Duran Duran, Joe Jackson, Foghat, Bad Company, Rose Royce, Rod Stewart(from either the Blondes have More Fun album, or the earlier stuff), The guy from the song”Third Rate Romance”(the Amazing Rhythm Aces, the guy from Atlanta Rhythm Section, and the guy from Steppenwolf…years before I knew who bass players’ names were…these guys’ lines were making mine and a lot of other heads bob, y’know what I mean?

Instead of piling on the legends who we all know and love, I’ll add one of my favorites you might not know. Roy-Mitchell Cardenas from the band MuteMath. His bass lines are complex yet grove the whole time!

Instead of piling on the legends who we all know and love, I’ll add one of my favorites you might not know. Roy-Mitchell Cardenas from the band MuteMath. His bass lines are complex yet grove the whole time!

Y’know, there was another one of these postings elsewhere, and someone was listing their top 10, and what occurred to me was I have favorites that I don’t know their names, but I know the bands they played in…what about the guys from these bands:

Duran Duran, Joe Jackson, Foghat, Bad Company, Rose Royce, Rod Stewart(from either the Blondes have More Fun album, or the earlier stuff), The guy from the song”Third Rate Romance”(the Amazing Rhythm Aces, the guy from Atlanta Rhythm Section, and the guy from Steppenwolf…years before I knew who bass players’ names were…these guys’ lines were making mine and a lot of other heads bob, y’know what I mean?

Glad someone acknowledged dUg Pinnick from KING’S X. He’s not flash, he’s all groove and tone, and voice, too, with loads of cool. Look up the song “Pray” (the intro of that is 12-string bass and vocal).

Back in 1979, I heard this song on the radio. It was the first time I`d heard bass played like that and I immediately wanted to do what he was doing. The bassist..Norman Watt Roy, the band, Ian Dury and The Blockheads. The song..Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick. I`ve now been playing for over 30 years and Norman is still one of my biggest influences. I`ve met him countless times, booked him (with Wilko Johnson), opened gigs for him and shared equipment. He is an absolute gent of a bloke and is currently at the top of the UK charts with the Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey project. Which is where he should be! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WGVgfjnLqc#aid=P8aEyN6Zzpw

Glad to see some lesser known and unknown bassplayers in the list: way too many of the ones we already know and can find loads of info about…
A shame to see nobody’s mentioned RUTGER GUNNARSON (ABBA). You may not like ABBA, but listen to the basslines and you’ll probably be amazed.

Berry Oakley, bass player for the Allman Brothers Band. A fertile melodic imagination, an ear for a sweet groove and an ability to react to whatever happened around him made for a sweet bassist. Just check out “Melissa”, “Ramblin’ Man”, or “Mountain Jam”.

Recently I was watching Blur Live At Glastonbury and I’ve got to put it out there – Alex James is definitely one of the most underrated bass players especially of our time. He’s playing so melodically and with such passion but no one ever seems to give him enough if any credit at all!
Another bass player would have to be Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots – if anyone has heard the isolated track to “Interstate Love Song” they would understand why.
The problem is, most of these bass lines are extremely overlooked and I think it would be a great breath of fresh air if these bassists were given their due of credit in this series.

The famous and fortunate always get press. The world is full of weekend warrior types who can play their azzez off. They should get some coverage. And that IMO would be some real valuable research and a very worthy project.

It stumps me that all you American bass players fail to recognize the two greats that have played on thousands of songs….Joe Osborn and Carol Kaye….I am still figuring out ‘for all we know’ and ‘Ventura highway’….they are still around and I don’t see them in the cover of any bass or musician magazine…

Although I eventually got around to Stanley Clarke and Jaco, I must admit that I wouldn’t have started on the bottom end had it not been for that bass drum rumble at parades and the God of Thunder, Gene the Consummate Performer Simmons!!!

I find I have to drag myself kicking and screaming to give new guys a chance… with that spirit, I really like what Evan Marien is doing with the bass – his chops are sort of Jaco inspired, but really very original. Also dude from Snarky Puppy is interesting.

Hey!
I love your latest article on No Treble﻿. I’m just very grateful you’ve started this feature. After this years Gerald Veasley’s Bass BootCamp﻿ I realized that my knowledge and ear for bass lines is in desperate need of education. As much as I listen to music, it’s only since camp have I turned my ear to now only bopping to the bass line but actually hearing it as a musician. I’ve kind of been embarrassed to ask other bassists “who should I listen to” ? I’m hoping you’ll include not only who to listen to, but which song and what to listen for. (also posted on FaceBook)

Well, too many to mention, so I’ll start with one that first popped up in my mind. It was the late 80s – early 90s, when guitar shredding was at its peak. I got my copy of Eric Johnson’s Ah Via Musicom & immediately got hooked by this punchy, funky bass sound sitting just right in the mix; anchoring Eric’s fleet runs while creating musical statements of its own. That performance drove me to strive for that particular bass sound, a quest that continues up to now. That bass player was Kyle Brock, I believe.

I hope John Deacon will also be featured in this series, I can’t believe how few have mentioned him !!! Would like to see more on John Entwhistle, Ian Hill, Flea, Steve Harris, Cliff Burton, John Mc Vie, Mike Oldfield, (tho he’s more of a multi instrumentalist), Greg Lake and Phil Lynott!!!